A Single Flower
by Mochilicious
Summary: They have so much in common. They share the same dreams, the same losses, the same feelings, the same fierce sense of duty. But do they share the same destiny? Soi Fon/Byakuya
1. A Standard of Perfection

"Shaolin-san!" Soi Fon's eyes snapped open and she immediately sat up in bed, turning almost mechanically to the source of the voice. A man dressed in fitted gray clothes knelt on the floor before her. The emblem embroidered on his sleeve told her that he was a servant, but she couldn't recall what his name was, so she just answered with a grunt.

"Your father told me to wake you earlier today. You must be ready for the Shihoin family's princess!"

Soi Fon's eyes opened wide. She'd completely forgotten, and she scolded herself inwardly. Another servant entered the room, this time a woman. She slipped a formal robe over Soi Fon's thin nightclothes and gestured to Soi Fon to lift her arms so that she could tie the bow correctly. Soi Fon stared out the single window in her room. Pale sunlight streamed through, illuminating a spot on her bed. It was hardly even morning yet.

Soi Fon turned to the woman, who had just finished tying the bow. "When is the princess coming?" Her voice was sweet, innocent, and still full of hope.

The servant smiled at the young girl. "Soon. Now come. Your siblings are all waiting for you." She took Soi Fon's tiny hand in hers and led her out of the room. "We must be ready when she comes."

Outside, Soi Fon was led toward the rest of her family. Indeed, her siblings were already standing there, straight and stiff, just as they were taught. Soi Fon took her place next to her older brother at the end of the line as she was the youngest of the six, and she stared up at the covered bridge. Around her, the others were looking up as well, and occasionally, some of the younger ones would turn and whisper to one another until one of the adults shushed them with a stern tap on the wrist. Suddenly, everything fell silent. All eyes turned slowly toward the far end of the bridge as a carriage emerged from the gate. Most bowed their heads at the sight of it, but Soi Fon couldn't; she continued to stare upward, craning her neck as much as she could, mesmerized.

Soi Fon's father chuckled softly. "Shaolin, do you see? Look closely. That's the princess of the Shihoin family. She is the one who you live to serve, and one day, when she becomes Corps Commander of the Executive Militia, you will dedicate your life to her." He smiled down at her briefly and put his hand gently on her head. "Alright?" All members of the Feng family, a lower noble family, were destined to give their lives in military service to the Shihoin family, one of the four noble families in Soul Society. That was the way of things. One family served another. Soi Fon nodded as if in a trance, eyes still trained on the moving carriage.

The woman sitting on it was beautiful. Her features were perfect, and her elaborate robe did not detract from her beauty. She was dark-skinned with a determinedly set face, and her rich purple hair was pinned in back of her head with an intricate ornament. The rising sun behind her cast a gorgeous glow on her, and Soi Fon began to think that this woman must be a goddess sent straight from the heavens. She wondered if anyone else could be this perfect.

Then, almost as if she could hear Soi Fon's thoughts, the woman turned her head just the slightest bit. The movement was barely noticeable, but Soi Fon, intently watching, saw it and realized she was looking straight at her. The woman's eyes were golden, piercing and fierce. Soi Fon felt her intense gaze burn into her own eyes, but she couldn't blink. It felt like an eternity that they stared at each other, and then the other woman's features shifted ever so slowly, softening. A small smile crept over her face, and Soi Fon's heart skipped a beat. Out of all the people present, why her? She could only gape back in wonder as the carriage passed by her and the woman turned forward again.

* * *

So I really like this ByaSoi pairing for I dunno what reason, but they just work, you know? Anyway, this is obviously from very early on, and it will progress up to present-day, hopefully. There will be some twists and AU things, as you will see in upcoming chapters, but I will mostly be sticking to Tite Kubo's storyline as my guide. And Byakuya will be making his first appearance soon, probably the next chapter :)


	2. Reason to Live

Six years passed since Soi Fon first set eyes on the Shihoin princess. She'd learned, a few days later after much inquiry, that the woman's name was Shihoin Yoruichi. She whispered the name to herself, and decided it was fitting for a goddess. She looked forward to the day when she could begin her life under Yoruichi, anticipating it with both excitement and fear.

Finally, that day came, and Soi Fon knelt with her siblings before her father, the eighth head of the Feng family. He solemnly informed them that their years of training were about to end; they were ready to join the Executive Militia branch. At that moment, Soi Fon felt the same thrill as her siblings felt, but she also felt sadness. From here on out, their lives were insignificant; they were simply being added to the vast army of lives in the military. That meant they were expendable, important yet worthless.

That afternoon, Soi Fon left the Feng manor alone and crossed the field to the hill where the graves of the noble families were. She moved through the rows of graves with purpose, arriving at a small marble grave near the edge of the cemetery.

"Feng 'Soi Fon' Shin," it read. Soi Fon knelt before it and whispered the words aloud. She ran her fingers gently over the engraving. "I miss you, Obaasan," she said fondly. Nobody had ever cared for her as her grandmother had. Despite having a sense of duty drilled into her ever since she was a child, Soi Fon felt truly at home with her grandmother. She was the closest thing to real family that Soi Fon ever had. A tear rolled slowly down her cheek and for the first time since her grandmother's death, Soi Fon let the tears fall, silent but real.

"Hey…" A polite male voice interrupted her solitude. Startled, Soi Fon quickly swiped at her eyes, trying to hide the tears. A strong soldier did not cry. A strong soldier did not show emotions like these. She looked up to see a boy watching her. He seemed to be about her age, but he towered over her. His rather long but silky black hair was tied back with a red string, and his features were chiseled and noble. He searched her face with large, curious eyes. She cautiously stood and faced him.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Soi Fon nodded quickly. "Oh, of course. I was… just visiting my grandmother. And what are you doing here?" She had to remember to keep her guard up at all times.

"Same as you. I am simply visiting." The boy shrugged, his thin shoulders rising under his plain robes. "I'm Kuchiki Byakuya."

"Kuchiki?" The name sounded familiar to Soi Fon. She ran through her memories, and then it hit her. Kuchiki, one of the four noble families! Her eyes widened and she quickly fell to one knee, inclining her head toward the boy. "S-sorry, I did not realize." How stupid she was! She should have remembered that this was, after all, the cemetery of the nobility, and the people coming here were most likely from noble families higher than her own.

Byakuya laughed, a calm chuckle, and shook his head, and then he became serious. "Please don't. I get enough of that everywhere else. So what's your name?"

Soi Fon stood. She wondered what name she should give him. Her military duties would begin tomorrow, but for today, she was still Feng Shaolin. Tomorrow, she would be Soi Fon. Perhaps for once, she could relax a little. "My name is Feng Shaolin."

Byakuya's expression changed just the slightest bit. His face fell a little, and a look of mixed disappointment and pity spread over it. "A Feng. So you will be entering the service of the Corps Commander soon." He sighed, and Soi Fon wondered what he was thinking. Did he look down on her? Did he pity her?

"Yes. I begin tomorrow." She looked sadly down at the marble grave next to her. "I came to visit my grandmother… for the last time perhaps." Soi Fon smiled grimly. "Unless I survive past the first year."

Byakuya did not respond to her last comment. Instead, he walked slowly down the row of graves until he reached a stone tower that was engraved with the words "Kuchiki Ginrei." He sat silently before it and closed his eyes. What a strange child, thought Soi Fon. After a few minutes, she went to sit next to him. The afternoon light washed over his serene face, and for a moment, Soi Fon didn't see a boy, but rather a burdened man. Then a bird passed before them and the spell faded just as quickly.

The boy's voice was wistful when he spoke. "Today marks one year since my grandfather's death." His eyes remained closed, and he turned his face upward toward the sky.

Soi Fon was silent for a moment. She herself had forgotten how long it had been since her grandmother's death. She just knew it had been too long. But with time came acceptance, so maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all.

"What was he like?"

Byakuya smiled, a distant look in his eyes. "He must have been the most noble man ever to live," he said simply, as if that one sentence summed up everything there was to say about his grandfather. "I'm going to be just like him. I'll lead my family. I'll lead Soul Society." He stood and turned to face Soi Fon with a slight smirk. "So you better live long enough to see that."

Soi Fon stood as well, crossing her arms. For a moment, she forgot that he was from the Kuchiki family and she was from the Feng family. They were just friends on the same level. "You bet I will."

Byakuya put out a pinky. "Promise?"

Soi Fon stuck out her own slender pinky and hooked it around his. "Definitely. That's a promise, Kuchiki Byakuya."

"Alright," said Byakuya, letting go and turning around. He began to walk toward the gate of the cemetery. "I'll hold you to it then, Feng Shaolin." And he was gone.

Soi Fon smiled stupidly after him, something she would never dare do in front of her family. But today was different. Today, she made a promise. Today, she found one more reason to live.

* * *

And there's the next chapter with Byakuya! I know the timing is off and Ginrei shouldn't actually be dead yet, but I'm making him dead for plot purposes. And as you can probably tell, Byakuya is his happy little boyish self here, before he got all angsty and serious.


	3. Inevitable Consequence

The hallways of the Onmitsukido base were silent as the soldiers of the Executive Militia assembled. Soi Fon was being sent on her first real mission. This was an important one, she was told.

For some time now, Soi Fon's father had suspected some members of the family and numerous soldiers from the other noble families of treason. His suspicions only increased when all questionable members disappeared one morning, and when he informed Yoruichi, she ordered a group of scouts specifically to keep an eye out for the traitors. Just that morning, one of the scouts had dropped in, out of breath and bleeding, to deliver a report confirming his suspicions; the defected soldiers had been planning and were now ready to move against Soul Society's nobility. This, Yoruichi decided with a grave expression, meant war. Not any normal war, but a secretive one, where only stealth and strategy would prevail.

Soi Fon was one of the assassins being sent to locate the recently sighted group of traitors and to eliminate as many as possible while assessing their strength. She stood shoulder to shoulder with two of her five brothers, facing forward toward their uncle, who was leading the team. Her head was buzzing with dozens of thoughts and emotions, and Soi Fon thought she might explode if the team didn't move out soon. She felt her brother fidget next to her and realized that all six of them must be feeling the same anxiety.

Finally, the order to move out came. Soi Fon's uncle led the group of sixteen toward the east, where the traitors had been supposedly sighted earlier that day. For Soi Fon and her siblings, this was their first mission, but each of them fully understood the importance of it; there was no room for fooling around and no room for error. Error could very well mean death.

Soi Fon bounded through the trees silently, sharp eyes scanning the depths of the forest below her. Sometimes she would glance up to make sure she was still following her uncle closely. After some time, the group stopped in a circle around a clearing.

Perfect hiding spot, thought Soi Fon. A thin layer of leaves layered over the grassy area, which was surrounded by thick bushes. She peered into the shadows around them. Suspicious, she thought. Their group was considerably large for just a scouting and assassination team, but she didn't feel safe at all. They had either cleared out of the area, or they were hiding somewhere near here. And Soi Fon didn't think it was the former. Her hand crept back toward the hilt of her dagger.

She caught the eye of her uncle, who nodded to his left and gestured at Soi Fon and her oldest brother. She nodded back, understanding, and then took off toward the indicated direction with her brother. They alighted on a large branch and scanned the horizon. Soi Fon could hear the others moving under her uncle's direction, perhaps also taking up scouting positions. She rested a hand on the tree trunk.

Suddenly, something glinted out of the corner of her right eye, and she instinctively jumped off the branch onto another. But instead of hearing the thud and crack of metal hitting wood, she heard a strained scream and muffled thump. Soi Fon turned toward the place where her brother was, or at least, where he once stood. But now, he lay on the forest floor some thirty feet below her, a red stain quickly spreading beneath his torso. He writhed once and was still.

Soi Fon's eyes widened at the sight, but before she could jump down after him, she felt the smallest disturbance in the air around her. She whipped around, drawing her dagger just in time to deflect another tiny metal blade. Then Soi Fon turned and sped back toward the group.

"They're here!" She shouted frantically, as others began flooding in with similar reports. Her uncle was already rounding up the remainder of the soldiers, who gathered above the clearing again, their eyes wild and alert. Soi Fon counted three missing. Thankfully though, the rest of her brothers were still there.

The leaves rustled around them, but nobody attacked. Soi Fon's uncle narrowed his eyes. "They're escaping," he said, realizing the situation. "Follow them. And kill them on the spot."

Soi Fon left her position and ran in the direction of the rustling sounds, jumping nimbly from tree to tree. There! A shadow below her on a branch! She swung down and slashed her sword at the man's masked head, but her sword was met with another blade. She could feel the man's smirk through his facemask, and she grunted as he pushed her away with his knee. Again, she rushed toward him, blade clutched tightly, but he simply blocked her and kicked her to the ground. Soi Fon landed with a thud, and by the time she looked up, the man was already moving. But Soi Fon was not about to fail her first mission. Gritting her teeth and ignoring the throbbing pain in her left arm, she grasped her sword and ran after him, eyes trained on his dark form as it moved through the trees in front of her.

They finally reached a clearing, and Soi Fon, putting on more speed, skidded to a stop in front of him, blocking his path. She swung her right hand across, the blade cutting into the man's abdomen before he could come to a full stop. But it only took him a moment to realize what had happened, and he turned, trying to escape in the direction he had just come from.

"Tch," Soi Fon tutted angrily. She pulled two throwing knives from inside the collar of her uniform and threw them with careful aim. "You won't escape!" One knife whizzed over the man's head, embedding itself in a tree, but the second knife hit the man's back with such force that it sent him flying into a trunk, where he twitched and then slid to the ground, gasping painfully.

Soi Fon jumped down and stood in front of him. "You will die," she said, just as a shadow passed overhead. She watched as the body of one of the traitors went flying above them and crashed down somewhere in the forest. Her brother emerged from behind a tree. She made to go after him, but just as she glanced past the man she had confronted, he threw his blade with all the strength he could muster. But he wasn't aiming at her.

The blade went straight over her head and buried itself in her brother's chest, pinning him to the trunk of the tree that he stood on. He died as the weapon pierced his heart.

Again, Soi Fon thought, as she felt a wave of rage and despair overwhelm her. Again she was useless, too weak, too brash, and inept to save her comrades. She curled her hands into fists, knuckles whitening in anger. She lifted her blade to finish the man who had killed her brother, but she stopped midway. Instead, she pulled out another throwing knife and drove it into the man's shoulder, trapping him against the tree. The man cried out in pain as blood spurted forward.

"You don't deserve a quick death," Soi Fon said coldly. And she left him to suffer, cursing life as he died.

That evening, when the team returned to the Onmitsukido, they were down five soldiers, two of which were Soi Fon's brothers. Even as the rest of the assassins chatted away and celebrated their brief victory over the traitors, Soi Fon isolated herself, still inconsolable after the events of the day. At some point during the evening, her father came over to her.

"Your uncle told me what happened," he began in his deep, stern voice. Soi Fon simply nodded, slightly lifting her head to stare up at him. "Let me just tell you this then. Death is an inevitable consequence of battle. So do not mourn the dead. Do not hover over the matter. Do not keep them in your memories. These things will only bring you pain and make you incompetent. You fight for the Corps-Commander, and you fight for your life." He turned. "Remember this…Soi Fon."

Soi Fon stared after her father's retreating form in disbelief. Was this really how they were supposed to live? Dispassionately removed from anything that should give them emotions? Soi Fon knew that they needed to be strong if they wanted to be soldiers of the Onmitsukido. But now, she wondered if they were even human. She wondered if their lives had been taken away from them in their sleep, if they had been deactivated and then reprogrammed to do nothing but kill, kill, and live to kill some more.

* * *

Yeah, sorry about the lack of conversation in this chapter, but I rarely ever see the Onmitsukido speaking besides "Yes, sir," and I felt that the silence was appropriate for their kind of mission. So I hope the action wasn't too boring :P  
Just bear with me here. Soi Fon is beginning to change.


End file.
